Brexit and LGBT+ rights

The creation of laws to protect LGBT+ people from discrimination in the workplace was driven by the EU. While the UK has now gone beyond what is required by EU law it is still an important guarantee for LGBT+ rights in the UK.

EU workers’ rights – won by trade unionists across Europe – are a key part of the patchwork of our protections from discrimination at work. And while they may be imperfect and incomplete, we don’t want to lose them. Instead, we want the UK where workers’ rights get better, to keep pace with the changing world of work. That means unions organising in more workplaces. And on Brexit, it means the UK and the EU agree on a level playing field on workers’ rights, so that hardworking LGBT+ Brits do not find existing rights are diluted, or fall behind when workers in the EU get new rights in the future.

This briefing document looks at EU law and legal rights for LGBT+ workers, European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and LGBT+ rights, risks of Brexit and EU law and rights for all workers.